Total pages in book: 28
Estimated words: 25614 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 128(@200wpm)___ 102(@250wpm)___ 85(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 25614 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 128(@200wpm)___ 102(@250wpm)___ 85(@300wpm)
“No. Why?”
“You were the only one invited to the party who had the security codes to get out of a locked room.” All the color drained from my face. He stood quickly and came to my side.
He took my hands in his and gave them a gentle squeeze. “Calm down. I'm just worried that you were forced in there.”
“No, I accidentally locked myself in a room and needed to get out.”
“At 6:00 a.m?” he added with a smirk.
“Well…”
“Look, I just need to know you were not harmed or anything. Your private business isn’t my concern unless you want me to help you.”
I shook my head. “No, just getting over my head. Still, I didn’t know the locks were on the elevators.”
“Only certain ones have them because they belong to private condos, but since that was activated, I figured you were doing the proverbial walk of shame or there was something more going on. That’s why I sent you a text about the Anderson-Hope contract.”
“Do you get all the code logins?”
“Yes, but we don’t check them because they’re set up by the user. Although the override codes are flagged when used, of course.” I pressed my hand to my mouth, afraid he had been notified. “Relax, they’re only viewed by me so as not to alarm anyone until I’m certain there is a reason to be. I knew it was your code, and I saw you leave the hotel on the camera alone.”
“Wow, do you ever rest?” I asked.
“Yes, but it was six in the morning.”
“Thank you for asking about my well-being. Am I fired?”
“No, of course not. I ask that you be more careful. We don’t have codes all over the city and if you ever need assistance, just give me a call.”
“Thank you,” I repeated.
“Now that we have that straightened out. Let’s go over today’s needs because it was a busy weekend.” I nodded and took notes. After twenty minutes, I had an entire list of things to handle and a profound sense of relief that not only had I not lost my job, but that my boss was more amazing than I already believed.
When I left for the day, my mind went back to the hotel and straight to the dangerous and handsome stranger. There were so many powerful men at the party, and several of them probably had temporary residences at the new hotel. A part of me was tempted to search the records, but I didn’t want to risk the man finding me. Maybe I did want him to find me. He wasn’t safe, I had to remind myself.
Still, I remained steadfast and avoided looking him up. I went to bed, which was a terrible idea because I woke up in a dirty, hot sweat. Dreams of our night turned into days of passion where he demanded I marry him. I got up and poured a large glass of water, drinking it quickly. As I calmed my rapidly beating heart, I promised myself that the attraction and desire were only temporary and the dream was just a memory of lust mixed with fantasy because I’d lost my virginity. It would pass.
I was wrong.
Chapter Eight
Diego
It had been over a week since she left me empty, and I was taking it out on everyone I knew. My latest victim was my assistant. Everything she did annoyed me, and I told her so. She was a good girl from a small Midwestern town, but I wanted to fire her for no reason other than I couldn’t find my sweet nothing. My woman disappeared into oblivion like she was just my imagination. After a night of pure bliss, I was left alone, searching in a sea of millions, growing angrier every day.
“Don’t you have any damn work to do?” I barked out at her as if she were the problem.
She rolled her eyes at me. “I did everything I was supposed to do. I was here waiting for the phone to ring, like a good receptionist.” I swore this woman had no self-preservation or no idea who I really was or she’d watch her damn tone. Especially since I was feeling quite murderous. I saw her doodling in her notebook every day. She thought I didn’t know what she did, but she had no idea how much I knew about her.
I’d gone over the footage from the hotel lobby, to the subway, and even the vendor to get a better look at the hoodie she purchased. The slick woman paid in cash—something most people didn’t even carry anymore. Damn it, she was smooth and quick. I had a team following the subway lines, but they lost her, and unfortunately, the street cameras only went so far. We’d have to hit up restaurants and stores to see if they caught her. The city’s surveillance system, with its facial recognition software, wasn’t available to men like me, and although I could get some access, it was limited.